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The Pot and How to Use It: The Mystery and Romance of the Rice Cooker Kindle Edition

3.7 out of 5 stars 121

A guide to the handy kitchen appliance, plus a range of recipes, from the Pulitzer Prize–winning movie critic.

In 
The Pot and How to Use It, Roger Ebert—Pulitzer Prize–winning film critic, admitted “competent cook,” and long-time electric rice cooker enthusiast—gives readers a charming, practical guide to this handy and often-overlooked kitchen appliance.

While 
The Pot and How to Use It contains numerous and surprisingly varied recipes for electric rice cookers, it is much more than a cookbook. Originating from a blog entry on Roger’s popular Web site, the book also includes readers’ comments and recipes alongside Roger’s own discerning insights and observations on why and how we cook.

With an introduction by vegetarian cookbook author Anna Thomas and expert assistance from recipe consultant and nutritionist Yvonne Nienstadt, 
The Pot and How to Use It is perfect for fans of Roger’s superb writing, as well as anyone looking to incorporate the convenience and versatility of electric rice cookers into his or her kitchen repertoire.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

America’s foremost film critic confesses to obsession with “the pot,” an electric rice cooker whose application he’s broadened to create his kitchen’s most versatile appliance. Ebert caught on early that the rice cooker is the crock pot’s virtual twin and can readily duplicate it as a time- and labor-saving appliance. Ebert touts the rice cooker’s health benefits by inventorying its friendliness to low-sodium, high protein, reduced-fat cooking. Ebert’s blog’s many fans have contributed cooker-adapted recipes running the gamut from quotidian boxed macaroni and cheese to spicy beef chili. A few recipes, such as mushroom risotto, call for preliminary action in a skillet before everything gets dumped into the cooker. Scrupulous cooks may find Ebert’s expansive use of the rice cooker the gustatory equivalent of watching Lawrence of Arabia on one’s iPhone—a lot of the product’s flavor and textural detail disappears. --Mark Knoblauch

About the Author

Roger Ebert is the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times. His reviews are syndicated to some 200 newspapers in the United States and Canada. He lives in Chicago.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004W9B94G
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC (September 21, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 21, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 3211 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 132 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    3.7 out of 5 stars 121

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Roger Ebert
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Roger Ebert is the Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic from the Chicago Sun-Times. His reviews are syndicated to more than 200 newspapers in the United States and Canada. The American Film Institute and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago have awarded him honorary degrees and the Online Film Critics Society named his Web site (rogerebert.com) the best online movie review site

Customer reviews

3.7 out of 5 stars
3.7 out of 5
121 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2012
This is definitely NOT a step by step, add these ingredients, follow these steps kind of cookbook. And I imagine that more than a few purists and self-styled gourmets will turn their noses up at it, but it is very entertaining and informative. If you enjoy Ebert's writing style (and share or at least understand his world view) I can almost guarantee you will enjoy this (cook)book.

In a nutshell, this is a book about how to make good food easily, with a minimum of fuss or equipment. And at least 90% of the time, that is all I have time (or energy) to do. The overriding theme seems to be shortcuts and simplicity, and at least in my opinion, that is a very good thing.
22 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2011
I was hesitant to buy the book based on the reviews. I am very glad I went with my gut and ordered it. I feel I should disclose that I am: a. smart b. a middle-aged hip person (not to say "hipster") c. not a very good cook and d. a user experience designer (software) who has soapboxed for years about the beauty of single purpose gadgets - generally using the rice cooker as an exemplary device.

But none of that really matters. If you enjoy reading and have a sense of irony (Ebert cannot eat what he creates, afterall), spend a few bucks to enjoy his dry wit, cool writing style and invitation to *explore*. Oh, and maybe you'll learn a nifty trick or two you can do with a rice cooker. That's just icing on the cake. cake in the pot...? hmmm...
22 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2010
I'm single and not a cook and pre-ordered this thinking it would be right up my alley. Not so. Most of the book is very general narrative about the pot being fun and good and trying things out. The few recipes there are require a giant rice cooker, not the 3 cup version I have at home. I ended up making the split pea soup in a large deep pan on my stove and it's tasty, but it wasn't a one step throw it in the pot deal. I also tried the rice pudding, which lacked any pudding element whatsoever. It came out pretty dry, even before baking. I don't recommend this book for recipes for any level of cook.
18 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2013
I bought this after finding myself in a position where I needed to learn to cook with no pots or pans. He opened me up to a world of possibilities of dishes that can be made with a rice cooker. I liked the creative aspect of his cooking, although with little experience, I wished for more recipes and less blog re-posting. I enjoyed the book and I've learned a lot about making healthy, tasty meals for my family and have this book to "blame"for my culinary successes!
8 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2010
I preordered this book a while back and when I got it I was sadly disappointed. It's very cheaply published, and has little useful information. I'm not sure exactly what the author was trying to accomplish, maybe because he can no longer eat he tries too hard to romanticize cooking. The recipes included are nothing special, I was expecting and hoping for more original thoughts than "hey you can heat up soup in a rice cooker" or steam vegetables in it. Don't get me started on the 2 part chapter of random snippets of comments from his blog. Or the fact that he repeats a chapter virtually word for word. Why would you include this junk in a book? I can't emphasize enough at how poorly this book is written.
16 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on October 9, 2013
Now- if you are experienced enough in cookery, the evocations might help you make really good meals.

However, it seems to me that many of the meals that could be made in the rice cooker are somewhat like stunts: yes, you CAN make it in a rice cooker, but it'd be much more practical to make it in other ways.

-But that is assuming you have other ways to cook- and if you do not- well, this book gives some guidelines on how to use a rice cooker to cook healthy and wholesome meals all on its own.

It was a fun read, regardless.

I pretty much use mine only for cooking grains... but it's brilliant at that, and so is one of the few appliances (the other is the Kitchenaid) that has a permanent spot on my counter.

If all you can have or store is a rice cooker- this will help you make wholesome meals with it. If ytou have a more extensive kitchen- it's got some good ideas, but is not as useful.
9 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2013
I gave this book five stars because it prompted me to buy the cheapest rice cooker I could find (as recommended therein) and follow a few directions and experiment. Experiment I did, combining one of the suggestions from the book with a recipe I found on the web and then changing ingredients to match what I had on hand. Result? A delicious meal for family of 4 with little effort on my part. (In fact I dictated the instructions to my 14-year-old grandson over the phone so all I had to do at home was finish the preparation by throwing in a few handfuls of egg noodles and some fresh broccoli and waiting about 20 more minutes.) Yummy. Chicken drumsticks in sauce with noodles and broccoli cooked in rice cooker. Who knew?
7 people found this helpful
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Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2012
I love this--it is not so much a cookbook as a celebration of the possibilities of the humble rice cooker recounted by someone whose love of cooking and entertaining has not been diminished by the fact that cancer surgery has forever robbed him of the ability to actually eat anything--
I stumbled upon it in a reference on Ebert's blog and it is in fact like a lengthy blog entry that is inspirational and up-lifting;but if you are looking for a typical one tbsp of this, half a cup of that cookbook, there are probably other ones that will make more sense.
I have already bought a second one for my son and will probably be purchasing many more as gifts, along with a rice cooker of course.
7 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Translate all reviews to English
So Many Books, So Little Time
5.0 out of 5 stars Worth the money!
Reviewed in Canada on November 16, 2017
Just such a wonderful little book - had me laughing a lot! Worth getting, as there are many good tips in it from Roger himself as well as other readers/rice cooker fanatics.

I miss you, Roger!
Triglaf
2.0 out of 5 stars Kein Kochbuch
Reviewed in Germany on September 4, 2019
Enthält überwiegend philosophische Betrachtungen über die Nützlichkeit des Reiskochers, das "how to use it" beschränkt sich auf zwei Rezepte. Das Buch ist äußerst dünn und musste dennoch mit zwei Kapiteln reinkopierter Leserkommentare aus Eberts Blog angedickt werden.
Marcie G.
2.0 out of 5 stars Read it for the author, not the info
Reviewed in Canada on April 16, 2015
I was more interested in Roger Ebert's writing than anything else - he was a terrific writer, as we all know. I didn't find anything useful, really, in terms of how to best utilize my giant Hamilton Beach rice cooker that my Air Miles Dream Points went to (it was the only rice cooker they had). In the end, I was disappointed. I agree with the other reviews, I'm afraid.
2 people found this helpful
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Elan Ingham
4.0 out of 5 stars Four Stars
Reviewed in Canada on August 15, 2015
Bought as a x-mas gift.
valerie Hodgson
5.0 out of 5 stars Great.
Reviewed in Canada on May 23, 2013
This book was for my husband. He uses it constantly. Great recipes in it as well as how to use this cooker.
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